Second-gen wood manufacturer sets sights on market growth

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

July 6, 2026

RHINELANDER – Growth has long been part of the game plan at Enterprise Wood Products.

Current owner Tom Ory said his father, Steve – a logger and trucker by trade – founded the company in the late 1980s as a one-machine operation housed in an unheated pole shed in Enterprise. 

Building on lessons learned from his father, also a logger, Ory said he steadily expanded the business by finding new ways to add value to every log that came through the yard.

What started with logging, he said, grew into sawmilling and kiln drying.

Rather than sell logs or lumber alone, Ory said he focused on turning raw materials into finished products, maximizing the use of wood throughout the manufacturing process and creating additional revenue streams along the way.

In 1998, Ory said the company relocated from the small Oneida County Town of Enterprise to Rhinelander, where it built a finished wood products plant.

Today, he said the company continues to operate that facility along with its sawmill and dry kiln operations. 

Though he grew up working for his father, Ory said when he left for college in Madison, he didn’t initially plan to return home or rejoin the family business. 

But in 2011, after four years of college, he said he realized there was nothing he would rather do than come back and work alongside his father, with the long-term goal of eventually taking over the business. 

In 2015, Ory said he began gradually taking on ownership of the company, and over the past few years, he has fully assumed control.

However, he said his father remains the foundation of the business.

From logs to product 

As a wood manufacturing plant, Ory said Enterprise makes solid hardwood flooring, tongue-and-groove paneling and wood trim.

“We do custom woodworking, which includes interior doors, stair and railing parts, bar tops and mantels,” he said.

Ory said the company also offers prefinishing on all of our materials.

“At the sawmill and dry kiln division, we process a lot of our own wood that we use at our manufacturing plant,” he said. “But we can also take wood customers bring us – like, if they’re clearing a lot to build a house or something like that – and can turn it into a product or products they can use in their home.”

Ory said the company’s main plant is located on the south side of Rhinelander, where it houses both its showroom and manufacturing operations. 

“That’s where our custom woodwork shop is, as well as our prefinishing department,” he said. “[There], we’re turning wood into tongue-and-groove paneling, hardwood flooring, trim and products like that.”

Ory said Enterprise’s other location – just south of Rhinelander in the Pelican Lake area – houses the company’s sawmill and dry kiln division, as well as its metal shop. 

Building on its success and expanding into new product lines, Ory said the company added metal fabrication around 2018, allowing it to produce complementary metal components for its wood products, including table bases, stools, shelves and other custom pieces. 

He said it’s just one example of how he has built on what his father started, growing the company by introducing new ideas and expanding its product line. 

A competitive edge 

Though there are a few other companies in the Rhinelander area that do similar work, Ory said they tend to focus mainly on milling the finished product. 

“They don’t have the sawmill and dry kiln, as well as the wood manufacturing plant and prefinishing division as we do,” he said. “That really sets us apart. We really pride ourselves on our product quality. Our guys definitely pay great attention to detail and make sure we’re not sending things out that they wouldn’t be happy with themselves.”

Ory said Enterprise Wood Products also strives to provide “top-notch” customer service, which includes constant communication with customers from start to finish, and beyond. 

“That means making sure we’re understanding what they’re wanting and needing,” he said. 

Ory said that also includes managing expectations, since wood is an imperfect material and no two boards look exactly the same.

“We want to make sure the customer understands that and knows what they can expect from the kind of product they’re considering,” he said.

Ory said Enterprise prioritizes providing quick, accurate quotes and maintaining clear, honest communication throughout the entire process – and even after orders are completed, if follow-up is needed.

“We don’t stop answering our phone just because they’ve paid us and the order is done,” he said. “We continue working with our customers and are always standing behind our product and providing ongoing customer service.”

Furthermore, Ory also said honesty and integrity are central to Enterprise’s approach to communication, whether with customers or within the company’s team. 

“We’re always striving to be up front with people and trying to take care of problems when they arise,” he said. “I think that’s important these days, that you stand behind your business and your people and your product.”

Enterprise has experienced steady growth over the years, and Ory said he doesn’t see that slowing down anytime soon, based on continued demand from builders and customers they work with. 

“They’re still seeing demand for building houses and other things in the area,” he said. “So, that coincides with us providing products for them.”

In recent years, Ory said Enterprise’s staff has grown to between 23 and 25 employees.

Though finding hardworking, reliable staff was once a challenge – like it has been for many businesses – he said that has largely leveled off in recent years. 

“Finding good help was certainly a challenge, especially initially when I started getting involved with running the business more,” he said. “But I would say in the last five to six years, we’ve had a lot better employee retention, and we’ve been finding different ways to reward the work they’re doing, and working hard to keep them happy with our company. That has included treating them as part of the team, and not just as a worker.” 

Besides standard benefits like insurance, Ory said Enterprise also offers employee incentives to help retain staff, including a paid day off for birthdays and additional holiday pay and time off for meeting performance goals. 

“We’ve also been paying attendance bonuses for those employees who are at work consistently and have a good attendance record,” he said. “We pay those bonuses quarterly.”

As a family-owned business, Ory said the company operates with a “family-first” mindset.

“If an employee has a Christmas concert or something they want to do with their kids or family, we always try to be as flexible as we can with them to allow them to do that and make sure they don’t have to miss those kinds of things because of work,” he said.

A clear plan for future growth

Ory said the company’s growth isn’t just measured in revenue, but in how it operates and improves across all areas of the business. 

“You have to keep evolving if you want to grow,” he said. “I want us to keep on improving our efficiencies and making things better for our customers as well as our employees.”

Ory said that means finding more efficient, less strenuous ways for employees to do their work, while also improving product quality and reducing lead times for customers.

“Most of what we do is made-to-order, so if we can do something in four weeks versus six weeks, that helps customers keep their projects moving along and not having them waiting on us to get their materials,” he said. 

Ory said the company is always looking for ways to improve and avoid “coasting,” noting it cannot stay stagnant and grow at the same time.

“We’re always trying to find new ways to do things and to make our products better, while also finding new products we can offer,” he said. 

Ory said the company’s approach to social media helps set it apart from competitors. 

He said the company shares its products, shop activity and images of finished installations in homes and commercial spaces on social media, helping customers visualize how products will look in real settings rather than relying on small display boards in a showroom.

“By showing these products [on] our social media and on our website, [customers] can actually see some of the products in the finished spaces, and that helps them determine what they might want to pick out for themselves,” he said.

Right now, Ory said the bulk of Enterprise’s customer base is primarily within about a 60-mile radius of their company.

Though he wants that strong local base to continue, Ory said he also envisions expanding into new markets and reaching customers beyond the region in the future.

“We ship stuff all over the U.S., to [places like] Colorado, Texas, Montana and Florida,” he said.

Ory said expansion helps ensure the company is not solely dependent on its immediate region for sales and gives it more flexibility in where it provides its materials.

“We are a growing business that prides itself on the quality of our products, taking care of our team members and giving back to the community,” he said.

More information about Enterprise Wood Products can be found at enterprisewood.com.